You know...

I think that's what everyone is hoping for. It's why I thought the Washington and Dallas games were two of the most important games in our history. The next three are not far behind.

I think what he’s done the last two weeks is enough to think that he’s bought us the ability to not do something crazy to try and fill the QB position next year. Should we still bring in a veteran QB, sure. Should we spend $30M+ on a Cousins? Probably not. The talent is there, it just needs some more development, even if he struggles against a better defense.

Ending the season with a good game against the Giants and two middish games against the Lions and Packers is probably enough for us to feel good going into the offseason, although eliminating the Packers and the Lions from the playoffs would be a best case scenario as we exit the 2025 season.

How much fun would it be to watch the Vikings throw a wrench in the Packers and Lions spokes?  LOVE it if the Vikings can win out and ruin their playoff chances.  Both teams are fully capable of losing out.   If that were to happen the Packers would finish 9-7-1, Vikes 9-8, and the Lions 8-9.   I would take that along with the accelerated development of JJM as a consolation prize for SURE!

Chuckf wrote:
How much fun would it be to watch the Vikings throw a wrench in the Packers and Lions spokes?  LOVE it if the Vikings can win out and ruin their playoff chances.  Both teams are fully capable of losing out.   If that were to happen the Packers would finish 9-7-1, Vikes 9-8, and the Lions 8-9.   I would take that along with the accelerated development of JJM as a consolation prize for SURE!

THIS^^^^^^^!!!  It'd be glorious.. 

There are plenty of ways to measure the Vikings quarterback’s recent progress, but one stands out.

Going back to 2022, when veteran Kirk Cousins was still the Vikings’ quarterback and Kevin O’Connell was in his first year as head coach, a theme emerged with the team’s passing attack:

O’Connell often encouraged Cousins to be more aggressive instead of progressing through his reads to safer options with less upside. Finding the right balance was essential to getting the sorts of chunk plays O’Connell’s passing offense needs.

Cousins was starting to play at a high level in 2023 before his season-ending injury midway through the year ended his time in Minnesota.

Sam Darnold came in last year and thrived in O’Connell’s offense because he had the arm and mentality to make big plays without taking too many risks.

Numbers indicate that O’Connell wanted J.J. McCarthy to continue running a high-upside, acceptable-risk style of offense this season. But through his first six starts, with an ankle injury and then a concussion mixed in, McCarthy was a high-reward, high-risk QB.

His past two starts, however, reveal the sort of QB that O’Connell must have envisioned when the Vikings chose McCarthy No. 10 overall in 2024.

More conventional stats certainly tell us that McCarthy has played his best two games as a pro since returning to the lineup from his one-week concussion absence. He’s thrown five touchdowns with one interception against Washington and Dallas with passer ratings well over 100 in both victories.

But two numbers I like even more come from Pro Football Focus.

The first is called “big-time throw percentage.” What qualifies as a “big-time throw” is a bit subjective, with PFF defining it as “a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.” McCarthy has been at or near the top of the NFL all season in that category, showing that he is capable of spectacular plays. His BTT% currently is 7.2% of all throws, tying him with Rams QB Matthew Stafford for the NFL lead.

Through his first six starts, however, McCarthy coupled those big-time throws with what are classified as “turnover-worthy plays,” defined by PFF as “a pass that has a high percentage chance to be intercepted or a poor job of taking care of the ball and fumbling.” He had 11 big-time throws but 12 turnover-worthy plays his first six starts. That’s too much risk for the reward, and the Vikings suffered as a result.

In his past two starts, though, McCarthy has made five big-time throws among his 47 attempts while being tagged with zero turnover-worthy plays. Yes, he did have one interception against Dallas, but that was a tipped ball that seems to have been deemed more unlucky than dangerous.

It is essential that McCarthy is allowed to take shots downfield and that he does so. It’s one of his strengths, and a big part of O’Connell’s offense. Can he sustain the ability to make those plays while keeping the ball safe over the final three games of the year? The answer will tell us a lot about what the Vikings’ QB plan should be in 2026 and beyond.

STRIB

Chuckf wrote:
How much fun would it be to watch the Vikings throw a wrench in the Packers and Lions spokes?  LOVE it if the Vikings can win out and ruin their playoff chances.  Both teams are fully capable of losing out.   If that were to happen the Packers would finish 9-7-1, Vikes 9-8, and the Lions 8-9.   I would take that along with the accelerated development of JJM as a consolation prize for SURE!

That would almost make up for this terrible year.  Might make our schedule harder next year, but keeping the packers out of the playoffs would be so fun.

greediron wrote:

That would almost make up for this terrible year.  Might make our schedule harder next year, but keeping the packers out of the playoffs would be so fun.

Problem is that helps the cowboys by improving those draft picks from the parsins trade.  Got to be a way to see both fan bases suffer more.

StickierBuns wrote:
And this is classic Colin Cowherd garbage. Too funny. If JJM continues to improve, he'll be doing this same thing at some point with him. This is about Bo Nix:

Can we talk about one of the craziest sports media switch-ups in recent memory?! pic.twitter.com/gShPyoPArL

— Zach Bye (@byesline) December 17, 2025

Wow. Everyone in sports media overreacts to every damn thing. But the fact that he's so incredulous toward people who disagree with him, one of whom was himself a month earlier, is pretty damn funny. What will January Cowherd say when January Bo Nix isn't as good as December Bo Nix? He'll replay November Cowherd and say he was right all along.

I stopped listening to Cowherd a long time ago. He's an SC schill (which is why he has an eternal hard-on for Sam Darnold) and he really only covers the same topics. You could count on him every day having an Aaron Rodgers segment, a Belichick/Brady segment, a Mahomes/Andy Reid segment, and a LeBron and the Lakers segment. Nothing really in depth, just a bunch of the same generic takes on the same topics. No thanks